LETTER: Support the Barrett bill to combat climate change

Friday

At its regular monthly meeting April 16, the Cambridge Democratic City Committee adopted the following resolution.

We, the Cambridge Democratic City Committee, urge the Massachusetts Legislature to pass legislation that imposes a fee on the carbon content of fossil fuels and returns that revenue to households and businesses. We commend Sen. Mike Barrett, D-Lexington, for drafting such legislation (SD 285, An Act Combating Climate Change), and the 41 senators and representatives for co-sponsoring the bill, including Cambridge Sen. Patricia D. Jehlen, Second Middlesex District, and Cambridge Reps. David Rogers, 24th Middlesex District, Marjorie Decker, 25th Middlesex District, Timothy J. Toomey Jr., 26th Middlesex District, Jonathan Hecht, 29th Middlesex District, and Jay Livingstone, Eighth Suffolk District, and we urge all our Cambridge state senators and representatives to vote for it during the 2015-16 session.

There is strong evidence that pricing carbon will be beneficial for the commonwealth of Massachusetts, creating jobs and growing the economy while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the Canadian province of British Columbia has experienced exactly these benefits from its 100 percent revenue neutral carbon tax since 2008. The Barrett bill ensures that residents and businesses would not be hurt by pricing carbon, because all the money collected would be returned to residents and businesses on a per-resident and per-employee basis.